About Me

        I am an Engineer. I received my first degree in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Computer Science. Professionally, I've been working as a Software Engineer since my first internship while completing my ME coursework.

        I have been interested in many things throughout my life, most of which have been related to science or technology, but I never really had any real specialized interests until about two years ago when I needed to take an upper level course outside of my major. I happened to take a robotics theory class in which I got to help build a robot. While the course really didn't offer too much opportunity into exploring the technical side of things I was immersed just enough to become near obsessed with everything related to automation. I’m not sure why I had always been reluctant to explore the field of robotics and automation, but it is a near perfect fit for someone who enjoys working on mechanical and electrical systems. Writing code always came natural to me, and the need to program micro-controllers for robotic systems and automation led me to becoming a Software Engineer.

After my initial introduction into robotics in college,  an ME professor encouraged me to join my universities Autonomous Surface Vehicle (ASV) team. I joined, and looking back - I am so fortunate that I was given that opportunity.  The team was multi-disciplinary, being comprised of Electrical, Mechanical, and Computer engineering students.  The purpose of the team was to compete in the AUVSI Roboboat Competition. The rules of the competition dictated the capabilities of the vessels. The core of the competition involved creating an autonomous vessel which could navigate autonomously through a marked channel. This was achieved using machine vision alongside a LIDAR. Every year the challenges changed, but some other challenges that we designed for - shooting nerf darts from the ship at targets , and unloading other autonomous vehicles onto floating barges to retrieve objects. My teammates were friendly and encouraged further exploration of the automation and programming. I became the team captain for the ASV team for my final year of schooling and led over a dozen engineers in the design, fabrication, and testing of our Autonomous vessel to compete in the international AUVSI Roboboat competition in 2014.

My experience on the ASV team allowed me so many unique experiences related to not only the field of engineering, but of project management. My time on the team bootstrapped my knowledge of electrical systems and programming, and helped with my leadership skills. Our team had a relatively small budget compared to others, which led to many interesting design constraints. As stated earlier, I am incredibly fortunate to have gotten the opportunity to work on the ASV team.

While completing my ME coursework, I was recommended for an internship writing software for a Marine Engineering firm. I got to work alongside engineers who designed state-of-the-art super yachts. My objective as an intern was to create desktop applications to perform various engineering calculations for the engineers. It was my first opportunity writing software that had an actual GUI, and I ended up with 6 different calculators ranging from speed/resistance calculators to propeller thrust and cavitation calculators.  I was also given the opportunity to migrate one calculator onto the companies website for prospective clients. 

Following that internship after graduation, I got a job writing software for the Navy.

Following that job, I got a job working at New River Kinematics - working on Metrology software. My background in Mechanical Engineering has been a very useful foundation for my past jobs, which has enabled me to focus most of my professional development into my software proficiency. 

After that class I soon picked up a micro-controller of my own. Through exploring projects that I had found online I had learned that the micro-controllers had so much potential, every little thing that I would do throughout the day was an opportunity to think of new automation projects. Unfortunately (fortunately, in a lot of cases I’m sure) due to lots of school work and just work, I have had a lack of time to pursue many of my ideas for automation projects, but I have done a few of my intended projects. One of my personal favorites is my Aquaponics project, which I've tried to go back in time and document on this site. Once I’m done with school I’ll have at least a little more time for myself to continue to pursue my ideas. To help hold me over until that day, I have been fortunate to get involved with Old Dominion University's Autonomous Surface Vehicle (ASV) team.

I joined the Autonomous Surface Vehicle (ASV) team around the end of October in 2012 and thanks to some very friendly and helpful teammates I was able to really emerge into the culture of hobby automation. The team is focused around designing and building an autonomous boat that can compete in the international AUVSI Roboboat competition. Being a part of the team really allowed me to have so many experiences that I wouldn't have had with my limited resources and since then I have really expanded my knowledge in electrical systems and micro-controllers. After the 2013 Roboboat competition I became the team captain for the ASV team and currently I have around 12 mechanical engineers and 4 electrical engineers helping prepare our 2014 autonomous boat. Once the competition is over I’m probably going to be stir crazy so I’m really be waiting relentlessly for graduation in the fall.

        My ultimate goal for my future career is to find something within the automation or robotics field. It would also be an extra perk if my post-academic career could be related to environmental conservation which is another large interest of mine mainly developed through years of scouting. In the worst case scenario that my post-academic outcomes aren't related to a field I’m highly interested in, I'll always have an enjoyable hobby.